Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Potato Gnocchi in Honey Roasted Pumpkin and Spinach Sauce





Ingredients:
4 x Large desiree potatoes
1 x Cup of flour
2 x Large eggs
1/2 Butternut pumpkin
2 x Tbls of honey
1/4 Tsp cinnamon
1 Tsp grushed garlic
Olive oil
250ml cream
1/2 Cup of spinach
Butter

Method
Gnocchi:
Boil whole potatoes in a pot of salted water until you're able to pierce with a knife. Don't over boil. Remove potatoes from water and remove skin by using a clean tea towel. Then, using a fine sive, mash potatoes through it into bowl. Create a well in the middle of the potato and crack the eggs into it. Slowly mix the surrounding potato into the eggs. Don't over mix. Once combined, start to add flour. Once slightly combined, poor mixture onto floured surface and start to lightly knead until dough becomes elastic. You may need to add more or less flour. Roll dough into long snake and cut small 3cm long pieces from it. Press gnocchi with back of fork if you wish. Then, in a pot with boiling salted water, throw 10 or so pieces of gnocchi in at one time. Boil for around 3mins. Remove with a slotted spoon and dry on kitchen towel.

Pumpkin sauce
Pre-heat oven to 200 deg. Cut the pumpkin into large chunks. Place honey, garlic and a splash of water and olive oil in to a jug and place in microwave on high for around 30 secs. Then, place pumpkin into baking tray and pour honey mixture over. Season with salt and pepper and then place in oven for about 20-30mins. Once pumpkin is starting to brown, remove from oven and place (with skin removed) into a blender. Add cream, cinnamon, another splash of olive oil and a splash of water and blend until well combined.

In a heavy based saucepan over high heat, add olive oil (and some butter if you want), plus gnocchi and spinach leaves. Saute gnocchi until it starts to go slightly golden. Add pumpkin sauce and saute for another 2-3mins. Serve with Parmesan cheese.



California Rolls


Ingredients
(Recipe originally from here / slightly adapted)

Serves: 8

Rice
1 cup uncooked short grain white rice
1 cup (250ml) water
1/4 cup (60ml) rice vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar

6 x Dyna-Sea brand immitation "crab" sticks (Kosher)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
8 sheets nori (dry seaweed)
1 cucumber, cut into thin strips
2 avocados, pitted, peeled and sliced the long way
Wasabi
Pickled ginger

Directions

Preparation:45min  ›  Cook:15min  ›  Ready in:1hour

Rice: Wash the rice in several changes of water until the rinse water is no longer cloudy, drain well and place in a covered saucepan or rice cooker with water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover the saucepan. Allow the rice to simmer until the top looks dry; about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for 10 minutes to absorb the rest of the water. Alternatively, you can use a rice cooker.

Mix the rice vinegar and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved then stir the mixture into the cooked rice until well combined. Allow the rice to cool then set aside. To speed up the process, place the rice in the freezer. For faster cooling, spread the rice against the sides of the bowls for even distribution.

Roll:
Roll the sushi cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Lay a sheet of nori, shiny side down on the plastic wrap. With wet fingers firmly pat a thin even layer of prepared rice over the nori, leaving 6mm uncovered at the bottom edge of the sheet. Sprinkle the rice with about 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds and gently press them into the rice. Carefully flip the nori sheet over so the seaweed side is up.
Making an horizontal indent across the first quarter of the rice, spread the mayonaise and the wasabi across it. Following this, place 2 or 3 long cucumber spears, 2 or 3 slices of avocado and about 1 tablespoon of crab sticks in a line across the nori sheet about 6mm from the uncovered edge.

Pick up the edge of the bamboo rolling sheet then fold the bottom edge of the sheet up, enclosing the filling and tightly roll the sushi into a cylinder about 4cm in diameter.
Once the sushi is rolled wrap it in the mat and gently squeeze to compact it tightly.
Cut each roll into 2cm pieces with a very sharp knife dipped in water.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

FishN'Chips


FishN'Chips with with orange and dill salad and green sauce.

Ingredients
1 X Large potato (Old Dutch)
1 X Cup of plain flour
1 X Egg
100ml Light beer
1 X Fillet of meaty white fish
1/2 Naval orange
2 X Dill pickled cucumbers
1 X Bunch of Dill
1 X Table spoon of capers
1 X Table spoon of sugar (optional)
1/4 Teaspoon spoon minced garlic
2X Table spoons of olive oil
1/2 Cup whole egg mayonnaise
Fresh thyme sprigs (garnish)
Canola oil for frying

Method

Green dill sauce (credit to L.Rosenzweig for recipe)
In a food processor, blend pickles, dill (removed from stems), capers, sugar, garlic  and olive oil. Then pour mixture into mortar and pestle and mix for about 1 minute. This is optional. Spoon mixture into bowl and add the mayo. Leave in fridge for around 30mins plus.

Potato strips
Using a vegetable peeler, peel skin from potatoes and wash. The start peeling long slices of the potato. Fill bowl with cold water and let potato strips soak for around 30mins. Then, rinse again with water several times to remove excess starch. Pat dry with paper toweling. Now, in a large wok heat canola oil - about 6cm in depth. Once oil is hot (place bread crumb in oil - it will sizzle if oil is ready), place potatoes in oil and cook until the edges start to go dark brown and they seem crisp. Remove with slotted spoon onto paper toweling.

Fish
Slice fish into cubes (about 5cm long). For beer batter, mix flour and egg together with fork. Once combined, add beer. Stir until smooth. Then, place in fridge for 30mins. To cook, place fish cubes into batter and then into the hot oil. Cook until fish looks golden brown (about 3-5mins). Remove fish and place onto paper toweling. 
Orange salad
Roughly cut orange segments into 2cm x 2cm pieces. Combine dill (removed from stems) with orange and mix together.

Garnish with fresh thyme sprigs and lemon wedges.